The Saint Dominic Academy Dominoes head for Broadway when they sing at Saint Malachy’s Church – The Actor’s Chapel – on Saturday, Feb. 8. The performance is part of a National High School Choral Festival sponsored by American Federation Pueri Cantores, the Official Student Choral Organization of the Catholic Church. “I am very proud that the Dominoes are now members of Pueri Cantores,” said director Joseph P. Napoli. Pueri Cantores is an official organization of children and youth within the Catholic Church, that brings together youth choirs to raise the profile of choral music in church, school, community, and artistic venues. Pueri Cantores currently includes choirs throughout the United States.

The Dominoes (officially called The Saint Dominic Academy Chamber Choir) will perform three selections at Saint Malachy’s: “Lift Thine Eyes,” “Psalm 23,” and “I Thank You God.” The festival will conclude when the combined choirs sing “With a Voice of Triumph” and “O God, Beyond All Praising.”

Saint Malachy’s Church is located in the heart of the theater district at 239 West 49th St. in Manhattan. The church is known as The Actor’s Chapel because of the many Broadway stars who have attended Mass there. “The girls are excited that, perhaps, one of these stars will attend the performance,” said Napoli. “I told my singers, if that is so, those Broadway performers should be excited that they have the opportunity to hear the Dominoes!”

JC guarantees paid sick days for workers

A diverse coalition of labor and community organizations is celebrating as legislation guaranteeing paid sick days for workers in Jersey City goes into effect, saying the newly-enacted ordinance will benefit the city’s workers and its economy. The ordinance signed by Mayor Steven Fulop in October makes Jersey City the first city in the state to pass a paid sick days law.

“I am proud to say that today Jersey City is a better place to live and work,” said Mayor Steven Fulop. “Our city’s workers and their families need the basic economic security that paid sick days provide, and I hope that elected officials around New Jersey and nationwide will follow our example.”

Jersey City officially joins five other cities – Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Seattle, New York City, and Portland, Oregon – that have taken action to help boost the economy by making sure workers can hang on to critical income when ill. Last month Washington, D.C. expanded their existing paid sick days law to cover all workers and New York City is in the process of strengthening their own law.

No turn at Route 440 and Communipaw Ave

The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) announced last week that there would be a traffic pattern change in Jersey City that eliminates left turns from Route 440 (1&9T, the truck route) southbound onto Communipaw Avenue.

The change was made in advance of the closure of Pulaski Skyway (Route 1&9) northbound travel lanes in connection with the ongoing Skyway rehabilitation project, and will remain in place until the Skyway’s four travel lanes are rebuilt and northbound travel on the Skyway resumes.

The purpose of the traffic pattern change at 1&9T and Communipaw Avenue is to maximize the capacity of 1&9T northbound travel lanes, which will be chosen by some motorists as an alternate route when the Pulaski rehabilitation project eliminates northbound travel on the Skyway for approximately two years.

Hudson County officials said they were not notified of the change until after it went into effect.

The left-turn slot that had been used by 1&9T southbound traffic to turn left onto Communipaw Avenue has been eliminated. Motorists must now proceed through the intersection and use a jug handle ramp to make a U-turn onto Route 440 northbound and then turn right onto Communipaw Avenue.

NJDOT officials said they needed to engineer several changes at the intersection to maximize traffic throughput on 1&9T northbound. The key change was to provide an acceleration lane for motorists who use a ramp near the intersection to travel from 1&9T northbound to Route 440 southbound.

The lack of an acceleration lane produced congestion on the ramp and on 1&9T northbound. This congestion has reduced the operational performance of the intersection for those motorists continuing on 1&9T northbound. The new traffic pattern will benefit local and regional motorists during the reconstruction of the Pulaski Skyway bridge deck.

Petsmart helps fund low cost cat spaying

Mayor Steven M. Fulop announced last week that the Department of Health and Human Services has been awarded a $100,000 grant from PetSmart Charities to provide low cost spay/neuter surgeries for dogs and cats.

“The cost of pet care is the reason most often cited for people giving up their pets, and cost is also the major reason why more people do not spay or neuter their pets,” said Mayor Fulop. “This is why we continue to seek grant funding for programs such as this to improve the health and well-being of our pet population.”

The grant covers all dogs and cats in the area from the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail tracks to Fulton Street, between Kennedy Boulevard and Garfield Avenue. This area was chosen because of the large number of stray dogs and cats picked up in 2013. The grant funding makes it easy for pet owners to spay or neuter their animals. Nearly 20 percent of all residents in this area live below the federal poverty guideline.

The grant will provide surgeries for more than 1,000 pet dogs and cats and 150 feral cats, more than 60 percent of all the unaltered dogs and cats estimated to live in the area. Residents will provide a small contribution for the surgery, as low as $10 per cat and $20 per dog depending on one’s income level. Surgeries will be provided by the Animal Clinic and Hospital of Jersey City, People for Animals, and other participating veterinary clinics.

In addition to helping control animal population, spaying or neutering your dog or cat helps them be healthier. Fixed animals avoid many reproductive health issues, are less aggressive and have fewer fighting issues, and tend to live longer than unaltered animals.

Food donations sought for JC homeless

Jersey City Homeless Activists are looking for non-perishable food donations rice, chicken, beans and canned vegetables to give hot meals every day to chronic homeless and needy persons. The volunteers of Fountain of Salvation Church, Jersey City will cook and bring around 50 hot meals to JSQ PATH station everyday around 6 p.m. Anyone willing to contribute can call or text Riaz Wahid at (201) 669-7608 or email at riazonroad@yahoo.com

Horizon Foundation gives two awards Hudson County non-profits

The Horizon Foundation for New Jersey has awarded its fourth and final round of 2013 grants to support New Jersey non-profit organizations approving $1,567,500 in grant awards for 60 qualifying programs. With these awards, the Foundation made more than $4.2 million in grants to 142 non-profits in 2013.

“The Horizon Foundation for New Jersey applauds the commitment and dedication of non-profit organizations because they help improve the health and quality of life of Garden State residents,” said Robert A. Marino, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey chairman & CEO and foundation board chairman. “By addressing significant public health issues or contributing to the cultural richness of our state, the grantees we support are making a positive impact on the lives of the people they serve.”

Art House Productions in Jersey City received a general operating support grant of $10,000 to fund its Arts Exhibits and After-School programs.

Save Latin America in Union City, received a grant of $25,000 to support its Diabetes Disparities Outreach and Education Initiative Program. The program will enable more at-risk children to be identified and receive treatment for diabetes, as well as provide diabetes information and education to parents and children.

Mayor Steven M. Fulop and the Resident’s Response Center are launching “Neighbors Helping Neighbors,” a new initiative that seeks to provide assistance to those residents who are unable to cope with such things as the harsh conditions that come with the winter season, and other emergencies, through a community network of volunteers.

“We are urging community members to reach out to those who are elderly or ill, or have other needs for assistance, during the aftermath of winter storms and other critical emergencies,” said Mayor Fulop. “Each small act of kindness is significant in times of need and goes a long way in the strengthening of our community.”

Through Neighbors Helping Neighbors, the city hopes to form a neighborhood network, which in turn will help Jersey City to weather any storm or emergency situation and come out stronger for it. Already nearly 100 residents have contacted the RRC to volunteer to help shovel and provide assistance to seniors and other neighbors.

The partnership between the city and residents to develop a volunteer network grew out of the grassroots volunteerism during Hurricane Sandy and its aftermath. As the recent snow storm illustrated, the need for neighbors helping neighbors continues to exist.

Neighborhood volunteers are asked to help shovel sidewalks and driveways for those who are unable to do so due to disability, age or other limitations. All Jersey City residents who are willing to volunteer are encouraged to send an email with your name, address, email and phone number to the Resident’s Response Center at RRC@JCNJ.ORG. The Resident Response Center will inform interested volunteers of opportunities to assist a neighbor.

Volunteers or residents with questions can call the Resident’s Response Center at (201) 547-4900.

CarePoint Health kicked off the lecture series on Jan. 16 with a Wound Care presentation from Dr. Emran Sheikh, a nerve reconstruction surgeon and Medical Director for the wound care center at HUMC.

The Center for Wound Care and Hyperbaric Therapy at CarePoint Health - HUMC provides the latest cutting-edge technology in wound treatment, including hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT), a medical treatment that places the patient suffering from chronic wounds in a pressurized oxygen chamber to enhance the body’s natural healing and strengthens the immune system. CarePoint Health has two centers for wound care and hyperbaric therapy located at Hoboken University Medical Center and Bayonne Medical Center.

“Because chronic wounds detract from the quality of life for so many patients, we knew it was paramount to take the lead in Hudson County and provide the best possible wound healing treatment,” said Christina Mulleady, BSN, RN, director of Wound Care Services at Bayonne Medical Center.

Cablevision Systems Corporation and NJ TRANSIT announced that they have reached a significant milestone in their partnership to provide WiFi access for NJ TRANSIT customers with the launch of Optimum WiFi at the following eleven train stations: Hoboken Terminal, Newark Penn Station, Secaucus Junction, Meadowlands, Metropark, Montclair State University, New Brunswick, Newark Broad Street, Rahway, Summit and Trenton Transit Center.

Gemma Toner, Cablevision’s senior vice president of broadband product management, said, “Cablevision is committed to bringing WiFi to places that matter most to our customers, and expanding our WiFi presence to 11 train stations in the NJ TRANSIT system is a natural extension of our robust network of more than 100,000 Tri-State Area hotspots. We look forward to now providing NJ TRANSIT passengers at these select stations with the superior Optimum WiFi experience our customers rely on even as we continue to deploy additional WiFi access sites at other NJ TRANSIT stations and ultimately on the rail cars.”

“This public-private partnership will enable NJ TRANSIT to deliver on one of the top requests from our customers—wireless internet access at stations, and ultimately onboard trains,” said NJ TRANSIT Executive Director James Weinstein. “We are excited to work with Cablevision to further enhance the overall customer experience on our system by offering a dedicated WiFi connection, enabling those who wish to remain connected during their commute to do so continuously.”